Congress To Tackle Issues Near, Dear To Voters' Heart

September 5, 1999|By JANET HOOK Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — Social Security. Health care. Tax cuts. School safety. Congress' looming agenda is packed with kitchen-table concerns that reach deep into the lives of average Americans -- a far cry from the more arcane legislative matters that sometimes preoccupy the nation's capital.

But as lawmakers return this week from their summer recess, President Clinton and Republican congressional leaders must grapple with deep divisions in their approaches to these gut-level issues. Stalemate has reigned so far, and whether the two sides can bridge their differences is Washington's pre-eminent guessing game.

Should emerging budget surpluses be used to cut taxes, increase government spending or shore up Social Security and Medicare?

How should Washington respond to the health-care revolution that has thrust most Americans into managed care plans?

What does the spate of violence in California, Colorado and elsewhere around the country say about U.S. culture and gun laws and what, if anything, should be the federal response?

Agreement on such far-reaching questions will be difficult in a climate in which leaders of both parties are hampered by serious political liabilities: Republicans have only a tenuous hold on Congress, with the GOP controlling the House by only a five-vote margin. Clinton, meanwhile, is in the twilight of a presidency marred by impeachment.

"There is very little steam left," said David Mayhew, a political science professor at Yale University. "No president beyond his sixth year has much clout."

"This is not a major reform kind of Congress," said Ed Gillespie, a Republican political consultant.

But in coming weeks, lawmakers may not have the luxury of treading water.

Annual spending bills have to be passed by Oct. 1, or the government grinds to a halt.

GOP leaders have promised House action this month on a divisive bill to increase regulation of managed health maintenance organizations.

House-Senate negotiators are under pressure to decide whether to push ahead with new gun-safety regulations, an issue that continues to be highlighted by violent incidents.

All this is supposed to happen before Congress's scheduled adjournment for the year in late October.

And what is decided in the next two months may go a long way toward writing the legacy of this legislative session, even though technically it does not end until late next year.

Many legislators assume that once 2000 begins, election-year politics will make it far more difficult to take action on major issues.